Miller family wants county to oversee property, not Cary

Cary leaders say they will fight a lawsuit that attempts to carve 22 acres out of the town.

The well-known Miller family is looking to deannex a piece of property that borders busy Route 14.

Dorothy Miller and her sons Robert Miller, Algonquin Township's highway commissioner and David Miller, owner of Lake Julian Contracting, have brought the lawsuit against the village.

The property has belonged to the family since the 1940s, said Robert Miller, adding that the family has no ulterior motives with the suit, filed in McHenry County last week.

The family, he said, is merely making good on something his mother vowed she would do years ago - preserving the land as a lush green space.

"It seems that Cary has other plans for our property, other than open space," Robert Miller said. "And we just want it to be left alone."

Outgoing Cary Mayor Steve Lamal says the property in dispute could figure into the village's economic plans down the road - Cary could only redevelop the land if it remains in town.

Right now, the village is working to reclaim land around the Route 14 entryway, and losing the Miller property would "constitute bad planning," because there would be land at the gateway that isn't part of Cary, Lamal said.

Lamal also characterized the Millers as disgruntled property owners and says the village has seen their kind before.

"We've dealt with Marshall Lowe, Bill Kaper and now we'll deal with the Millers," Lamal said. "We're prepared to win."

The village rang up $400,000 in legal fees to successfully stop Lowe from building a waste transfer station near residents on Route 14, Lamal said.

Meanwhile, officials are still in negotiations to help Kaper develop land at Georgetown Drive and Three Oaks Road.

Lamal could not say how much money the village, which recently let go of three employees, froze raises for five top officials and implemented various other cost-cutting measures, is willing to spend on court proceedings.

But he did say Cary can't afford to lose any of the sales and property taxes the Miller's land generates.

"It's never in the best interest," Lamal said of a lengthy lawsuit. "They ought to go away. The lawsuit and the lawyer ought to go away."